Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5175, USA.
Cell. 2011 Sep 16;146(6):866-72. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.08.042.
The discovery of cytosine hydroxymethylation (5hmC) suggested a simple means of demethylating DNA and activating genes. Further experiments, however, unearthed an unexpectedly complex process, entailing both passive and active mechanisms of DNA demethylation by the ten-eleven translocation (TET) and AID/APOBEC families of enzymes. The consensus emerging from these studies is that removal of cytosine methylation in mammalian cells can occur by DNA repair. These reports highlight that in certain contexts, DNA methylation is not fixed but dynamic, requiring continuous regulation.
胞嘧啶羟甲基化(5hmC)的发现为去甲基化 DNA 和激活基因提供了一种简单的方法。然而,进一步的实验揭示了一个出乎意料的复杂过程,涉及 ten-eleven translocation(TET)和 AID/APOBEC 酶家族的被动和主动 DNA 去甲基化机制。这些研究得出的共识是,哺乳动物细胞中的胞嘧啶甲基化可以通过 DNA 修复来去除。这些报告强调,在某些情况下,DNA 甲基化不是固定的,而是动态的,需要持续的调节。